Emotion Overdrive
by Mew Shadowfang
Summary: Mate's Mark AU. Inspired by OmegaInfinity's Linked in Life and Love fic. Yang has some… issues after losing her arm. Something her sister - her Mate - can't help but notice. (Pollination, sans Enabler) Now with an unexpected sequel chapter!
1. The Fall of Beacon

**Again; this is a ficlet of OmegaInfinity's Linked in Life and Love, the AU credit goes to him (AU details are at the end). It's a Pollination (sans Enabler) fic, and it's great, and I binged it in two days (while leaving 30 reviews as well), and you should go read it. And yup, this is a fanfiction of a fanfiction! After being stuck in a trench for a while, I come out with... this. Better than nothing, now hush your mouth and read.**

 _Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Fear._

Yang ran past burning buildings and fleeing people, her mind on one thing and one thing only. Blake, and the Mate's Link between them screaming negative emotions. In her mind's eye, she saw the human-shaped purple-rimmed black Aura, still too far away to Yang.

Yang gave a fleeting touch to the Mark emblazoned on her shoulder, her fingers gently brushing over the black lily in the center of three other symbols, a rose, a snowflake and a flame, each connected by a thin line. Eyes narrowed in concentration, a tingly thrum of energy spread down her spine and into her legs. The rose on her shoulder glowed gently as she activated Ruby's Semblance. Yang's world suddenly became a yellow-tinged blur. In a rush of yellow rose petals, Yang hurtled through the flaming streets of Beacon, red and brown and gray and white all blurring together as one, her legs running fast, as fast as they could go, faster, faster, faster faster fasterfasterfaster…!

With only a vague sense of where she was going and the alarm bells of going overboard ringing in her head, Yang stumbled to a stop, panting heavily. A quick glance around to check her surroundings, then she closed her eyes and pushed her Aura outwards. The world around her fell away to a dark void, screams and crackling fire lowering to a murmur.

She quickly recognized Blake's Aura amidst the dark void, surrounded by a purple glow and slightly dimmed, a little surprised how close it actually was. Eyes snapping open, she ran around the corner, nearly running straight into a White Fang grunt. He hardly had the chance to sneer before Yang decked him in the face, knocking him out instantly.

"Blake!" She called out, looking around. "Where are you?"

 _Shock. Helplessness. Fear._

 _Hatred._

Yang immediately zoomed in on the sudden blast of emotion. She turned-

And saw a red blade being stabbed through Blake's abdomen.

Her vision went red. Before she knew what she was doing, she had jumped straight at that man, that monster that had hurt Blake. She ignored, was barely aware of, the feelings of _Pleading_ and _Horror_ , every thought only on hurting the one who had hurt her Blake.

She let out a wild scream as she charged, unnoticed tears leaking from her eyes-

And felt nothing.

Ruby's eyes widened as a staggering force of _Panic, Hatred, Disbelief, Worry,_ nearly every bad emotion that came to mind, slammed straight into her consciousness, making her stumble with the pure force of Blake's emotions. She forced herself to keep moving while under the torment as emotions not her own raged about in her head, knowing that she desperately had to get to Blake.

She helplessly tried to connect to Blake's mind, searching for her Aura, to calm her down and- the little tendril of her own red Aura immediately retreated as another wave of pure panic washed over her. Ruby gasped and put her hands over her ears, despite knowing that it wasn't sound bombarding her mind.

In the waves of pain and anguish, a small white light appeared.

 _Calm. Focus._

Ruby breathed out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and grasped tightly onto Weiss' thoughts, hanging on for dear life in that little calm space amidst the agony of their Mate.

She didn't know how long she spent, just standing there and trying to achieve some sort of semblance in her mind again, but eventually, the waves of panic and worry from Blake subsided to a tolerable amount.

Ruby took a deep breath and straightened up, ready to send Weiss a thought of thankfulness just as an oddly controlled wave of _Worry_ and _Shock_ swept over her, this time tinged with that familiar frosty feeling Weiss' emotions always had. Then:

 _Shock. Worry. Fear. Anxiety._

That was it. Ruby closed her eyes and pushed her Aura out, seeking, seeking, there!

One brilliant white figure, waiting with _Worry_ and _Anxiety_ coming off her.

And… oh.

Two human-shaped Aura's, both laying down, one a dimmed violet-outlined shape, the other a nearly extinguished yellow.

A pit of dread in her stomach, Ruby snapped her eyes wide open and ran. Her Semblance kicked in and her feet lifted off the ground, becoming a red whirlwind blowing through the streets, a trail of red petals in her wake.

She didn't stop until she sensed Weiss near her, only then pausing to take a break. Her Aura nearly drained, Ruby jogged the rest of the way.

"Weiss!" Ruby called upon seeing the heiress.

Said heiress turned, surprised.

Her expression changed into one of joy. "Ruby!" She said, relief so clear in her voice Ruby didn't need the Link to notice it. The two Mates embraced for a moment, relief and gladness pouring off both. Ruby smiled and made a wild grab for Weiss' lips, something Weiss reciprocated for a split second before splitting.

"Ruby." Weiss' voice broke for a moment, the feelings of _Worry_ and _Panic_ that briefly disappeared making themselves known again, along with a steady _Resignation_.

Ruby's brow creased in worry. "Weiss?" She asked, her voice hesitant.

Weiss wordlessly stepped to the side, letting Ruby see exactly what was behind her. The dread from before returned in full force as she took in the scene before her.

Ren and Nora, both kneeling and clutching at an unseen wound. Despite not looking very bad, whatever it was that had winded them was enough to prevent them from getting up and continue fighting.

Yang, unconscious, and with only a bloodily-bandaged stump for a right arm. Even in her blood-loss induced state, Ruby could feel the unpleasant emotions from her older sister as she no doubt relived the horrible moment.

Blake, her entire midsection and chest layered heavily with dirty bandages, lying in a sea of her own sorrow. With what seemed to be a considerable amount of effort, Blake lifted her hand to take Yang's remaining one, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She whispered to her fallen partner over and over again.

Seeing Yang's yellow Aura arm cut off from the elbow in the darkness of the Aura-void was one thing, but looking at it with her own eyes made the whole weight of the situation even heavier. Ruby could only widen her eyes in shock, for once, not knowing what to do.

"Bl- Blake… Yang…" was the only thing she could say, her voice failing her. A quick hug and a burst of _Sympathy_ made her break down, her arms finding their way around Weiss as she, the leader of Team RWBY and the prodigy who had been moved ahead by two years, sobbed pitifully into Weiss' shoulder. The heiress merely embraced the crying girl tighter, tucking her own head beside Ruby's and humming a soft tune until the girl's sobs had quieted to sniffles.

"Ruby, Weiss." Said girls turned their attention to Sun, who had an apologetic look for interrupting the moment. "They'll be ok. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale." He cast a fleeting glance at Blake and Yang, then grimaced. "All of you need to go, quickly," Sun said, his worried eyes staying for a split second longer on Blake.

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!" Nora exclaimed, worried.

Sun frowned and pointed towards Beacon, where more and more Grimm were beginning to gather under the monstrous shadow of what had to be a centuries-old Grimm. "Look, that giant Grimm won't stop circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We have to go, now."

"We're not leaving-!" Ren grunted, his hand clutching his side as he tried to stand, the rest of his sentence remaining unsaid.

"I'll do it."

The three of them turned to Ruby, surprised.

"I'll find them, and I'll bring them back." She promised the two members of Team JNPR.

"No." Weiss stepped up to Ruby, her expression firm. "We will find them." She turned to the other three. "Watch after Blake and Yang. Don't let anything happen to them." Her eyes narrowed. " _Or else_. We'll be back."

With a nod to Ruby, the two of them turned and started back to Beacon, before vanishing in a trail of white and red rose petals.

 **Timeskip**

"... Yang?"

Yang didn't answer. Ruby frowned when she tried to access the Mate's Link, but Yang's emotions were incredibly dull. _Didn't Blake say that Mates couldn't keep secrets from one another? How did…_ She paused and retreated back into the dark void. Ruby slowly reached out a tendril of her red Aura out to Yang's yellow silhouette. As the two Aura's brushed against one another, Ruby's eyes widened in shock.

 _Anger. Resignation. Hopelessness._

That was about as far as Ruby got before her Aura smashed right into a firm but wavering wall, blocking her off from the rest of Yang's emotions.

"Don't." The uncomfortably frosty words broke her concentration.

Ruby opened her eyes, the void disappearing at the sound of Yang's voice. The blonde still hadn't moved from her position. Ruby hesitated, then turned to leave.

"... Ruby."

Ruby whipped back around. Worried silver met distressed lilac. Despite the alarm bells and red flags that had been ringing since the distinct lack of Yang's emotions, Ruby threw her arms around her sister.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Ruby's voice was weak with relief.

Yang didn't share the same feeling. "But… I'm not." The tone of her voice instantly crushed Ruby's feelings, the younger girl frowning as she withdrew her arms. "It's all gone. The school, Penny, _Pyrrha,_ and…" Yang didn't have to finish. Her downcast look at what was left of her right arm said it all. The wall baring Ruby from reading her sister's emotions cracked.

 _Sorrow. Mourning. Frustration._

Ruby hesitated. "What about Weiss and Blake?"

Yang flinched at the question. The wall crumbled some more.

 _Worry. Helplessness. Anger. Self-loathing._

"Weiss' father… came for her."

The pure shock in Ruby's eyes was accented by the high-pitched cry that left her mouth.

"What?!"

Weiss' father? The one who had tried to control Weiss' every whim? The one who had forced Weiss into the mindset that Faunus were nothing but animals? _The one who had made his own daughter afraid of him?_

Yang winced again but continued.

"No one outside of Vale knows what happened. Before the Tower fell, the last thing people saw were Atlas soldiers attacking innocents, Grimm destroying the school… No one knows who to trust. So… Weiss' father came for her, to take her back to Atlas where he thinks it's safe."

At Yang's words, a thick ball of dread had settled itself into Ruby's stomach. She tensed herself as she focused back to the dark void and pushed her Aura out…

Other then the yellow figure in front of her, she could only barely make out the barest pinprick of white in the distance. Cold-tinged emotions washed over her.

 _Resignation. Anxiety. Fear._

Ruby shuddered and opened her eyes. "What abo-"

"And Blake ran!" The words were practically shouted. Yang had turned away, but Ruby could still see the tears trickling down Yang's cheeks. "Once we got to the city, she just ran! Even after everything we've been through together, she just left. Without even saying anything!" Ruby was suddenly aware of the crushing but warm emotions she was feeling.

 _Fury. Loneliness. Frustration._

"She didn't even wait for me to wake up."

 _So much frustration…_

Without realizing it, Ruby had taken a step away from Yang. The wall had crumbled, all the forcefully pent-up emotions rushing out in a flood.

 _Despair. Sorrowful. Worthless._

Ruby stood stock-still, taking all the emotions in with a bewildered expression.

 _Infuriated. Abandoned. Confused._

Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing came to mind.

 _Terrified._

That made Ruby's jaw snap shut with an audible clack! The sound seemed to jolt Yang out of… whatever it was, and the influx of pure feeling suddenly stopped.

The sudden 'silence' of emotions made Ruby feel hollow. She didn't even realize how familiar the emotion sensing had become to her. It was second nature now for her to just know what her Mates were feeling. Without it… She swallowed, her throat suddenly very dry.

"Ya-" Her voice caught in the middle of saying her sister's name.

Ruby forced down the ball of uncertainty in her throat and instead closed her eyes. She reached out a tendril of her Aura out to the yellow figure, focusing her emotions as the two Aura's touched. Dimly, she heard Yang let out a gasp of surprise. _Yang, please, I want to help. I can't bear seeing my sister like this._ Ruby thought as fiercely as she could, letting the Link say what she couldn't.

To her own surprise, emotions were returned.

 _Stubborn. Conflicted._

Ruby opened her eyes, disappointed. "Yang…"

Said blonde refused to look at her, but she was now clutching her head in her hands. "Stop! Just.. stop. Leave me alone."

The words stung. Ruby forced back the welling in her chest. She slowly turned to the door, pausing for a moment at the doorway.

"I love you."

She didn't get a reply.

As Ruby left, she could feel a leftover tinge of Yang's stubbornness, but buried underneath it was another emotion that proved Yang wasn't as cold as she was trying to act.

 _Regret._

 **Not entirely a satisfactory ending. Eh. I would also like to mention that these particular scenes are only assumptions, as OmegaInfinity has already changed many canon things regarding his story. The Fall of Beacon most likely won't happen the same way, as I've depicted here.**

 **As promised, AU details to clear things up if necessary:**

 **Faunus have a special ability to 'Mark' others as a sign of deep affection. Marked are referred to as Mates. They do this by biting their loved one and pouring some of their Aura through the bite, essentially giving Aura to their would-be Mate.**

 **Marks have three stages. The first is the basic bite, which is only a bite mark with a spot of color that is the Faunus' Aura. This mark will fade after a few days if the relationship proves to be unsatisfactory. This mark allows emotion-reading (albeit with a little more concentration), as well as instinct-sharing, something I didn't cover in this story. Their Mate's Auras would appear as sphere-like shapes.**

 **If Mates choose that they are fine with the relationship, they would advance to the second stage. The Mark would change into an actual design that represents the Mates. This mark advances emotion-reading to the point Mates don't need to concentrate to feel their other Mates emotions. Aura's will take human form at this point.**

 **The third stage is like stage two, only permanent. This stage is not required to go through.**

 **Should two cousins or siblings fall in love with the same person, they would form a sibling's pact when Marking each other. This pact promises that they would share their Mate equally and not be in a romantic relationship with one another. (Sorry Enabler-fans)**

 **Mated persons can gain an Affinity; something like a second Semblance. This is an incredibly rare occurrence and is usually passive.**

 **There are a few other details, honestly, this topic is so broad I don't want it to be longer than the story. I tried not to add as many spoilers about LiLaL, although that is fairly difficult when writing future events. I'm sure I've spoiled quite a few things already.**

 **Review please, I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading, and it's nearly midnight. Cya!**


	2. A New Beginning

**Now with an unexpected sequel chapter!**

It was frustrating.

It was so, so frustrating.

Ruby wanted to claw her brain out, it was so frustrating. The knowledge that her Mates - all of them - were hurting, _and that she couldn't do anything to help._ Even worse, they were deliberately trying to stop her from feeling their emotions.

She'd already experienced it with Yang. Her sister was so broken, yet she kept shutting Ruby out. Whenever Ruby saw her Mate's Mark in the mirror, her eyes would draw to the yellow flame, now only a little more than a grayed color. At first, she thought her eyes had been playing tricks on her, but it eventually became evident that the color was indeed fading, day by day. Even the yellow-tinged lines that connected the four emblems together had grayed.

Blake simply didn't want to be found. Even when Ruby looked through the blank void of the Link, she couldn't see the purple-black of Blake's Aura. In fact, she hadn't seen it for months now. At this point, she was surprised Blake's flower hadn't started graying either, but every few days she could feel the small, cool pang of _Sadness_ and _Longing_ and _Regret_. But Blake didn't want to be found.

Weiss was the worst. Weiss wanted to 'talk' with Ruby. Weiss didn't shy away whenever Ruby reached out. But she didn't dare to reach out herself. Ruby could feel it, no matter how much Weiss tried to hide it; every frosty feeling of _Pain_ and _Fear_ and _Sorrow_. Whatever Weiss was going through, she didn't want Ruby to know. And so she didn't, spending every day worrying and fearing the next time Weiss felt _Pain_.

This was wrong. The Mate's Mark was supposed to let Ruby help her Mates, but if they didn't want to be helped, all it was was torture. It was driving her nuts.

Every day became an endless cycle of worrying and eating. Ruby wasn't getting any sleep either; the tortured nightmares her Mates had would wake her up through the night, and keep her awake long after the sun had risen.

By the time winter came, Ruby was a wreck. She stayed in bed, clutching her head as Weiss' latest nightmare slowly faded away. Covered in sweat, she mechanically went through the motions of getting ready for the day.

Taiyang and Qrow were in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. They abruptly stopped once Ruby came in. They were worried too, she knew. But they couldn't help her. The Mark was her burden, and she could only carry it alone.

She slumped in her chair, shoving food into her mouth without tasting anything. She paused in eating, wincing when frosty feelings of _Concern_ were directed at her. Weiss was concerned. About her. It was becoming more and more frequent.

Ruby frowned as the feeling was accented by a touch of _Worry_ and _Pleading_. The meaning was clear: Weiss wanted Ruby to stop worrying. She must have sensed Ruby's doubt, because:

 _Worry. Pleading. Comfort._

Each emotion sharper and more pronounced. Ruby simply frowned and finished bringing a spoon of cereal to her mouth. For a moment there was a 'silence', then;

 _Apology. Guilt. Questioning. Comfort._

Ruby once again paused to decipher the emotions. The apology and guilt were easy, Weiss regretted not being there for Ruby. Questioning could mean any number of things though. Added with comfort, that would make… was Weiss asking her if she was ok? She was definitely not ok. Not by far. She didn't even really remember what 'ok' was. But…

 _Helplessness. Questioning. Companionship._

Weiss… wanted Ruby to be with someone? Wanted her to have companionship? Because she couldn't actually physically do anything right now, stuck where they were…

 _Determination. Comfort. Companionship._

Weiss was determined and comforting, that meant she was doing that thing where she ordered people around while trying to help them at the same time. Companionship…? Ruby was suddenly reminded of why she had aspired to become a Huntress in the first place. To help people. It was odd, to have to realize her drive again, but the entire Mate's debacle had left her running ragged. Another cold feeling spread through her.

 _Contentment._

Ruby smiled into her next bite. Suddenly it was like the storm clouds over her head the past few months were gone. Her thoughts flashed back to the day she woke up, after the Fall of Beacon. Qrow had talked to her and mentioned something about Haven. Her eyes flicked to her honorary uncle for the briefest of seconds. _Our enemy's trail leads to Haven, huh?_

The gears in her mind whirring, she finished breakfast with renewed vigor. Maybe it was time to contact old friends.

The light in Ruby's eyes had appeared again.

 **Timeskip**

Ruby hesitated as she crept past Yang's door. For a small moment, she considered going in. Without meaning to, the world slipped into the darkness of the void. Ruby could practically feel the heaviness in her chest as she saw the glowing yellow mass only a door away. In the distance, the white speck glowed brightly in steely _Confidence_. Swallowing, Ruby opened her eyes again.

There was a hollow pang in her chest as she walked past the closed door, but she ignored it. It hurt… but at least this way she didn't have to say goodbye.

Ruby carefully pushed open the front door, taking care not to make any noise. She turned, smiling upon the sight of three familiar faces.

"Hey, Jaune."

 **For now, it's a two-shot. And yeah, I know this was shorter than the first chapter, but this was mostly written on a whim. So please stop following this, it's complete, and instead leave a review because it's kinda depressing no one's said anything yet. Reviews are the lifeblood of stories, and that's no exaggeration.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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